<p>What exactly does it mean when members of a university's faculty have titles such as (for example--I'm making these up) the "Harrison Neuberg Professor of Theology", or "James Adamson Professor of Physics"? It seems as if almost every faculty member has some sort of distinction along these lines.</p>
<p>Also, what is emeritus faculty?</p>
<p>"Harrison Neuberg Professor of Theology" is a title that means the professor holds an endowed chair donated in honor of Harrison Neuberg. </p>
<p>That is, at least some of the funds that pay his salary and associated expenses come from the investment income on a special earmarked account set up for donations in honor of Harrison Neuberg. (Sometimes the funds were donated by Harrison Neuberg himself; othertimes, the funds were donated by friends and relatives of Harrison Neuberg in his honor.)</p>
<p>Emeritus is an honorary title which applies to a retired professor that a university wants to recognize as special. Emeritus faculty don't get paid, but they retain certain privileges. The exact nature of those privileges varies from university to university. It could include office space, research assistance, a vote at faculty meetings, a parking space, secretarial support, lab space, computer and library privileges, the option to teach an occasional class (generally for a modest stipend), etc. Emeritus literally means "out of merit" or "on account of merit."</p>
<p>Certain professoships are endowed positions... meaning, that a certain family or foundation has set up a foundation or trust fund to pay the salary of certain positions... these are often called "endowed chairs."
In the example above, it means Harrison Neuberg (or his family) donated money to the university to pay for the salary of a professor of theology... or say, James Adamson left in his will (or his family did so in his honor) money to fund a professor in physics. Most faculty do NOT have such titles... you see it more at the top schools... but most departments at most schools hav e afew endowed chairs.</p>
<p>Emeritus faculty are professors who have officially retired... but most schools still give them teaching or research opportunities if they want.
Emeritus faculty will occasionally teach classes or advise students... but generally they are under no obligation to do so... may times, older faculty hang around offering there wisdom and advice... which, if we were smart, we would listen to more often than not.</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks a lot for the helpful answers.</p>
<p>Sometimes an endowed chair is set up to pay for a research expense account for its holder, as well as his/her salary. That means the holder of the endowed chair may have a certain discretionary "slush fund" that s/he can use to pay for trips to conferences, journal subscriptions, books, supplies, data, travel for research, etc.</p>
<p>Typically (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the holder of an endowed chair's total salary is higher than that of other full professors at the University, due to the endowment funds. So it is both an honor and an economic benefit to hold such a chair.</p>
<p>jmmom, generally speaking people who hold such chairs are among the most distinguished faculty members at the university and for that reason (perhaps as a recruiting incentive as well) they will be among the best paid. But they would probably make that same amount of money even if they didn't hold the endowed chair (which brings additional perqs with it, however, as mentioned above).</p>
<p>In addition to endowed chairs, some universities have "named professorships," which are not fully endowed by gifts but are partly endowed or sponsored by gifts. For example, an uncle of mine has a professorship in geology named after him at a certain university. He gave the university a fair bit of money but it did not cover the full salary, benefits, and research support for that position. In fact, the occupants of that chair rotate, and typically involve distinguished visiting professors who hold the position for a couple of years only.</p>
<p>My brother recently got an endowed chair and he gets to name it!</p>
<p>This reminds me of the book "Postmodern Pooh," a hilarious sendup by an English professor of different schools of literary criticism (some of which he makes up).</p>
<p>Some of the "presenters" in the book have named chairs: the Sea & Ski Professor of Egnlish at U Cal Irvine, the Exxon Valdez Chair in the Humanities at Rice, the Joe Camel Professor of Child Development at Duke, and so on. </p>
<p>So now I giggle everytime I hear a named chair.</p>
<p>Emeritus...I have earned that illustrious title at a not-for-profit where I was on the Board for 16 years and rose up to become Chairman...here's what I was told:</p>
<p>It derives from Latin.</p>
<p>E" means "you're out"</p>
<p>and "meritus" means "you deserve it."</p>
<p>I suspect every Professor emeritus has some former students who feel he/she deserves that definition!</p>
<p>MIT really does have a Lego Chair for Learning Research. :)</p>
<p>The way it worked for my father was that a family with means in the area donated $$$ for an endowed chair with their name on it. My father was involved in recruiting the donation and was the first professor to hold the chair. Then they named a lecture, to be given annually, in the same academic arena, after my dad.</p>
<p>Then he was emeritus.</p>
<p>Now he watches a LOT of ESPN....</p>